Keeping Things in Gear
by writingforsanity
Summary: Dom was the older brother that Letty never had. Letty was just another sister for Dom to look after, why did he care so much? Pre TFAF.
1. Chapter 1

Of all the places to be, the Torettos' garage was Letty's favorite. Greasy, smelly, and pretty much down and dirty, one could always find Letty underneath the hood of a car helping Mr. Toretto and Dominic with the latest project. She'd been that way ever since she was old enough to teethe on a monkey wrench. Letty was born to work on cars, she had an innate feeling of how the entire contraption worked. At fourteen the biggest thrills in her life came from helping Mr. Toretto work on the charger, which was few and far between. She knew the charge was Dom's and Mr. Toretto's project. She tried to steer clear of that, so they let her help on other things.

"Morning Mr. Toretto." Letty greeted scaling the fence and walking up to the garage. In army green cargo pants and a black hooded sweatshirt with a canvas bag slung over her shoulder, she could have passed as a burglar.

"Juliet. Good morning. How are you?" he smiled, wiping his hands on a spare rag.

Grimacing at the sound of her real name, she replied, "As good as a freshman on the first day of school can be I guess."

Mr. Toretto chuckled, "It won't be that bad."

"I hope you're right."

"Dom and Mia are running late, why don't you come to the kitchen with me and grab something to eat."

"Thanks." She replied, following him into the house.

"DOM! MIA! GET IT IN GEAR!" He set Letty at the table with a plate of toast, eggs, and sausage, and a glass of orange juice.

Dom was the first to make it down the stairs and into the kitchen. He was still dripping for his morning shower, his gray t-shirt spotted in places from the water. Not bothering to sit down, he shoveled eggs and sausage in his mouth and started chugging orange juice.

"Easy killer." Letty smiled.

"Morning Let." he said as he swung a leg over the chair across from her to sit and eat the rest of his plate.

"is mia almost ready?" Mr Torreto asked from his place at the head of the table.

Dom shrugged and shoveled more food into his mouth.

"MIA! DOWNSTAIRS NOW OR YOU'RE GOING TO GET LEFT! Up and out the door guys, or you're going to be late."

Grabbing Letty's canvas messenger bag and his own black backpack, Dom stood and followed her to the front of the house as Mia rushed down the stairs fumbling with her backpack.

After dropping Mia off at the junior high school first, Dom and Letty walked through the high school parking lot as the bell for class rang.

As Letty made for her home room class, that Dominic had made sure to find for her, he stopped her.

"Listen Let, if anybody gives you a hard time let me know and I'll take care of it."

"I'll be fine Dom." She rolled her eyes at him, exhibiting more confidence that she felt. God, he was like the overprotective brother she never had.

"Letty, I'm serious." He reprimanded her, handing over her bag. "Be at the car after class."

First period, wasn't that bad. But by the time she got to her fourth period class, advanced algebra, she was livid. If the girls weren't swooning over Dominic, the guys were grunting at her and yelling lewd comments. One jerk had even gone as far as to grope her ass, he had been punched with a right hook which landed her in the principal's office for the better part of her third period class, World History. Emerging from algebra, Letty found Vince waiting on her.

"Dom send you?"

"Heard about your trip to the principals office."

"News travels fast." She muttered walking in the direction of her locker, Vince trailing behind.

After lunch with Dom, Vince, Leon and Jess, things didn't get much better. Instead of girls swooning over Dom and the males offering the x-rated things that existed in her head, she got an entirely different greeting.

"Don't look at her man, she belongs to Dominic Toretto. Do you want to get us beat up?"

"That bitch, she so does not deserve Dom."

"Dominic Toretto is one lucky man."

In short, Letty was pissed off."

"Dom you fuck! You have everyone in the school thinking that I'm your possession."

"At least everyone leaves you alone now." He responded, unlocking the doors on his car.

"No.. now all the skanks in your school call me a bitch for no reason, and the guys won't even look at me for fear you'll rearrange their face."

"Couldn't hurt right?"

Letty let loose a string of Spanish that could only be filled with profanity and degrading comments that there was nothing left for Dom to do but laugh.


	2. Chapter 2

Letty didn't preach far from the truth, Dom did come home with a different variety of whore every night. Most were vapid, few wore much clothing. That night was no exception, no night was any exception. Letty almost always ate dinner with the Torettos; She'd tried her hand at cooking once, but Mr Toretto had to put out the small fire she had started. She was always there when he showed up with that particular night's brand of whore clinging to his muscular body.

Mr Toretto already had his two girls seated on either side of him, serving up plates of spaghetti when Dominic strode through the door with some Asian chick attached to his arm. The first place Mr Toretto looked when he saw Dom, was to Letty. She was young of course, and oblivious to Dom's affection. She saw him as an older brother, he saw her as the girl he could never have. Letty wasn't anything like his sister. Mia studied hard and at least attempted to be feminine, Letty preferred cargo pants and covered with oil. That night she didn't seem even to notice Dom. As her older brother, she knew he was entitled to whore around with whomever he wanted. She just accepted it.

"Are you and you friend joining us Dominic?"

"No thanks pops. We're just here to pick up some stuff upstairs." He said taking the stairs two and a time and leaving the random girl in the living room. Mia watched her look around the room and wrinkle her nose in disgust at the various tools laying around. When Vince tore through the door without knocking, Mia had to suppress a smile when the girl jumped in shock and then glare as he strode through the living room without even a passing glance. Vince took a chair beside Letty and piled on the food.

"mm. Mia, can you pass the salad please?"

"Sure Let." Mia responded, passing a large glass bowl to Vince.

"Here Letty, take some more garlic bread."

"Thanks Mr. T."

"V.. didn't know you would be joining us."

"Sorry I didn't let you know, Pops. Mom's trying to cook again." He replied, mouth full of spaghetti.

Mr. Toretto laughed and handed him a glass of water and a napkin.

Dom came bounding down the stairs again, grabbed his girl and was almost out the door when Mr. Toretto stopped him.

"Dominic."

"Yeah pops?" he turned around.

"Be home by midnight. You have school tomorrow, and there are things I want to talk to you about. You're not in trouble, we just need to talk."

"Sure thing." He agreed, giving a fleeting look towards the table before he was out again.

That night, Dom roared into the driveway at half past eleven. He had beat curfew for once, not that he wanted to stay out later. Most of the girls that rotated in his grasp were only good for physical means before he lost interest. Not even remembering the girl he'd been out with, he hoped that she didn't expect him to call. Slumped into a chair across from his dad with a glass of water, Dom yawned.

"What's up?"

"Letty turns fifteen in June."

"Right." Dom said, not following.

"In Latin cultures, fifteen is the big birthday. So, I think we should do something for her."

"Like what? Throw her a party?"

"I was thinking of building her a car, we're almost finished with Mia's."

"She won't have her license."

"Neither does Mia for that matter, but you insisted we had to build her car and not buy one. Beside Dom, her parents live outside the country. She's almost guaranteed to get a hardship."

"I think it's a great idea. What kind of car?"

"maybe a Nissan?"

" a 240SX would suit her."

"I'll look for one then."

"We'll need to start building soon if we want to have it done in time."

"That's why I needed to talk to you tonight, but get to bed. You have school tomorrow, you're not skipping."

Dom took the stairs one at a time, his body tired and worn out. Almost tripping over the figure on the top of the stairs, he groped for the light. "Mia? What's wrong sweetheart?"

"Nothing, just waiting for you to get home."

"You should be in bed."

"It's midnight Dom, I'm not a kid."

"You're twelve, be a kid."

"I was just thinking, about how nobody waits for Letty to get home." She said carefully, but it still took Dom off guard.

"What are you talking about?"

"She goes home to an empty house every night, which has to be kind of lonely."

"Her parents sent her up here, Mia. They wanted her to have a better life than she would in Mexico, she lives with her uncle. She's fine."

"How do you know that? Have you ever been over there? Has Pops? She's always over here, and doesn't ever talk about life at home."

"I .. don't.."

"I didn't think so." She replied in a sigh, then got up and headed toward her room.

Dom wiped a hand over his head, and headed back downstairs.

"Pops?" He called from the kitchen. Mr. Toretto was sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through a mechanic magazine.

"Yeah Dom?" he replied, not looking up.

"I'm going to run over to Let's house, check on her. Mia's bugging about something."

Mr. Toretto looked up, his brows creased in concern. "Come get me if there's problems."

"You got it." Dom promised, turned and headed for the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Dom headed out into the warm night, walking the few blocks over to where Letty lived. The lawn was sparse, but what was there grew uncut; weeds sprouted from everywhere. No lights were on in the house, or outside for that matter. If Dom didn't know any better, he'd say the house was abandoned. The stairs creaked under Dom's boots; he was almost scared the small porch wouldn't hold his weight. After discovering the doorbell didn't work, he tried knocking. There was no answer, Dom swore under his breath. He was hoping this would be easy. Dom had seen her uncle on a few occasions, enough to know he drove an old beat up truck. The driveway was empty. Sighing he tried to open the door, which was eerily unlocked.

"Letty?" He called softly. "Let?"

The inside looked worse than the outside. What few furnishings they did have were covered in dust, mold, and holes. Empty food containers riddled the floor and the surfaces. Not even wanting to think about the things that had to be crawling through this house, Dom decided to get to business and find Letty, make sure she was alright, then head home to get some sleep. The front room was the living room, behind it looked to be a kitchen basked in moonlight. Dom headed up the stairs, careful not to fall through. Now thinking that if he ever found her, he'd take her right back to his house. This place was disgusting. Upstairs, the landing held three doors. The open appeared to be a bathroom. One of the right and one on the left. Taking a gamble, Dom went left. The room was dark except for a small cast of moonlight across the floor.

"Letty?" Bracing himself, he felt for the light switch. When he found it, he flipped it upwards. Nothing, no electricity. Swearing to himself, Dom called louder not even bothering with a whisper. "Letty?" Something scampered across his foot, and tore into the next room. Cringing, Dom entered the room. He walked around the bed, but found nothing. She had to be in the other room. Creaking softly, the door opened. "Letty?" In a way, he hoped he found her first. He had been teaching her to throw a right hook, and that girl was packed with force. If she thought he was some sort of burglar or rapist.. he'd rather not end up on the floor in this vulgar house. This next room was darker. Kicking himself mentally for not bringing a flashlight, Dom slowly walked into the room. "Letty?..." No answer, it wasn't as if he was coming to expect one. "Juliet Rodriguez where are you?" he snapped. "fuck." He ran his hands over his head again, nervous habit. Something brushed past his arm and he jumped. Cursing inwardly, he felt around the room. The bed felt empty, and if she was on the floor he would have tripped over her. Getting frustrated beyond belief, Dom ran the situation over in his mind. It's midnight, dark, there's no electricity, she's a fourteen year old girl, alone, in a humanely inhabitable house. When Pops was away at a race, and Dom didn't make it home till late, Mia got scared. She hid in the strangest places, it took forever to coax her out. It didn't happen as much anymore, but it happened. Where would Letty hide?

Dom walked out on the landing, trying to think. "Damn, girl. Where are you?" Something rustled behind him, and Dom whipped around. It had come from the bathroom, he crept toward the door, expecting to find some sort of vermin. He didn't expect to find was Letty. He could barely make out her small frame, but sure enough she was curled up in the bathtub. "Letty." He whispered, stroking her arm to wake her. "Let."

"Dominic? What's going on?"

"Why are you sleeping in the bathtub?" he asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her sleepy face.

"Not as many pests, robbers won't look here." She mumbled, half asleep.

"Come on, I'm taking you back to the fort." He whispered, scooping her up into his arms. Her head rested on his chest, and she fell back asleep. Making his way out of the house, Dom found her bag by the door and took it with him. From the street, he could see his dad waiting on the front porch.

"Dom, I was getting worried. What's wrong with her?"

"She's tired, I woke her up. Pops.. she lives in a landfill. That place is gross, even for my standards. They don't even have electricity. I found her in the bathtub of all places."

Mr. Toretto's brow creased in concern, "I wasn't sure about her uncle, but she said everything was fine, so I didn't press. Why didn't she say anything?"

"How should I know? Pride probably. I'll put her in my room, and crash on the couch till we figure something else out."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Dom nodded, and followed his father into the house. Taking the stairs two at a time, he was grateful he knew they wouldn't cave in.

Letty woke up the next morning disoriented; she definitely wasn't at her house. For one thing, she didn't wake up all cramped from sleeping. Stretching, she looked around and realization dawned. This was Dom's room. What happened last night? Where was Dom? As quiet as she could, she slipped out from underneath his black comforter. The house was quiet; a quick glance at the clock said it was seven. She doubted anyone else was awake. Finding her shoes at the end of the bed, she slipped them on with every intention of stealing back to her house. What she didn't count on was finding Dom sprawled out on the couch.

Praying that the door wouldn't make much noise, she twisted the deadbolt and almost had the door open.

"Where are you going?" asked a muffled voice "If you're going back to your house, I'm coming with you."

"I can go by myself." Letty retorted indignantly.

"Oh I have no doubt what you're capable of. But, Let how do you think you got here? I saw your house. I'm sure it looks worse in the daytime." He replied, finally sitting up.

"It's not that bad."

"Not that bad? Let, you don't have electricity. I'm willing to bet you don't have hot water either."

She stayed quiet.

"Let.. just stay here. We have plenty of room, and you practically live here anyway."

"I.. can't."

"Why not?" He asked, closing his eyes and running a hand over his bald head.

"I can't leave my uncle, he's…"

"When was the last time he came back, Letty?" He asked, getting up and walking toward her. His eyes were still puffy from sleep, but they still held a forceful look.

She remained quiet.

"Right.. So you're living by yourself. You're too young to work. Letty, what the hell? Why did you tell me sooner? Or Pops at least?"

"I didn't want anyone to know he abandoned me." She said quietly.

"Letty..." Dom sighed, not sure how to go on.

"I don't want to be a burden on anybody. I was doing fine on my own." She replied forcefully.

"Don't bullshit with me, Letty." Dominic snapped back. She remained quiet, both were too stubborn to admit anything. "Go take a shower. I'm going to go get pops, fill him in, and go get your stuff. Anything hidden I won't know to grab?"

"I'll get everything later."

"Which would be another excuse to postpone you staying here, I don't think so." He locked eyes with her. Staring back with the same stubborn track as he did, Letty blinked.

"All my things are in the bathroom." She replied begrudgingly.

"Everything?" he quirked an eyebrow.

She nodded again.

Dom shook his head, and walked back toward the couch. He groped around of the floor and then pulled on the shirt he found there. When he was almost to the stairs to wake up Mr. Toretto, he turned. "Are you coming? Shower's upstairs and don't think I don't know what's going through that little mind of yours. I will carry you up here if I have to." He threatened.

Narrowing her eyes at him, "You wouldn't dare." Backtracking the few stairs he had taken, he walked toward her. "Okay, I'll go take a shower." She promised, backing away as he drew nearer.

"Too late." He replied, and closed the distance between them in one giant step. Grasping her around the waist, he slung her over his shoulder like she was nothing more than a tank of NOS.


	4. Chapter 4

"If you tell anyone Letty.. I swear.."

"Relax Dom, nobody will know. Just.. let's do this before somebody sees."

"Hold on Letty, I have to make sure everything is…"

"DOM!" Letty whispered harshly. "your dad!"

Jerking his head up Dom jumped, wrapping his arms around Letty to tackle her as he went. They landed somewhat noiselessly; Mr. Torretto walked by their hiding place without a second glance.

"Shit that was close." Dom breathed into her ear, his arms still clamped around her small frame.

"Are we going to be able to do this or not?"

"Shh..I think I hear Mia."

Letty huffed, but remained quiet. He kept his arms around her; determined to make her stay still. Not caring how bad she wanted it, he needed to make sure they didn't get caught.

"Why don't we just leave then?" Letty asked, agitated and still sore from being tackled.

"I'm trying, but if Mia sees us go… she won't want to be left behind. We have to wait."

"You better be as good as you say you are." Letty whispered harshly, turning towards Dom.

"You don't have to worry about that. Trust me on it.. Okay.. I think everything's clear."

"Finally." Letty breathed. Dom smiled mischievously, took her hand, and led the way running to his car.

Letty's nerves were thrumming as Dom drove through the lamp lit streets of LA that night. He had the music loud and booming; he was preparing for what was to come. To Letty, Dom seemed completely calm about everything that was about to happen.

"Where are we going?"

"Relax, You'll see. I guarantee you'll have a great time."

"I have no doubt of that."

Dom smiled again, "We're here."

"This is it?"

"Come on."

Nodding, Letty opened the door. What met her, she hadn't really expected. Cars over every color and make lined either side of the alley; each one seemed to have one purpose, to race. Letty was in a daze as she walked around to the front of Dom's red Mazda. A little beyond her, Dom already had several girls attached to his side. He was smiling and flirting with them all, a beacon of popularity.

"Letty."

She turned; Vince was approaching. "Hey V."

"You racing tonight, Let?"

"Nah, just came to watch the master at work."

"Vince!"

"Speaking of." Letty muttered.

"Keep an eye on her! Don't let her out of your site!" He ordered, then disappeared into the crowd.

"What the hell? Is he serious?"

"He certainly didn't look like he was making a joke." V said, staring at the spot Dom just left.

"Fuck this." Letty said, turning to walk in the opposite direction where another throng of people were crowded.

"Letty, I'm supposed to be watching you." He called after her. "Dom's going to shit when he finds out about this!"

"He's going to shit one way or another." She smirked, then turned around, waved him off, and disappeared into the crowd.

"Fuck." Vince declared, losing sight of her. "Dom's going to kill me."

"Who's Dom killing?" Jesse asked, walking up behind Vince.

"Me. I lost Letty, got pissed off and stormed off somewhere over there." He said, gesturing at the crowd of people and the supped up cars.

"Damn man, Dom's going to kill you."

"Thanks, you're a regular mad scientist."

"We're about to leave for the race site.. what do we do? Assume she has a way there?"

"Shit."

"Damn girl needs a cell phone." Leon muttered, raking his hand through his hair.

Vince, Leon and Jesse were all nerves as Dominic lined up to race. Not only were they apprehensive about Dom racing, but how he would react when he found out that they had managed to lose Letty in a throng of racers.


	5. Chapter 5

She was running. Her breath caught in her chest, but she didn't stop. Up ahead, Dom's car pulled to a stop and a crowd spread around him. Letty had been too pissed at him to pay attention and had now missed the race. Running pell mell across the grimy asphalt, she could only hear the persistent thuds of her boots hitting the ground and the ragged breathing through her chest. It was like she had tunnel vision; all Letty could see was Dom up ahead, and all the girls that were now clinging to him like he was a god. That could only mean he had won! What Letty didn't count on was the car that sped out of nowhere, anxious to catch up to the seen ahead.

Dominic stepped out of his Mazda with a grin plastered on his face. The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins as he was surrounded by the crowd of people. As the money was slapped into his hand, Jesse, Vince, and Leon found their way up to him. Dom was still grinning as girls flocked around him kissing his cheek and hanging onto his body. Letting himself get absorbed in the glory of it all, something finally clicked in Dom's mind.

"Where's Letty?"

The guys suddenly found the ground more interesting to look at that meeting Dom's gaze.

"You better hope we find her soon." He growled, making everyone take two steps back.

Seconds later, a screech of tires and a piercing scream had everyone looking back in the direction of the start of the race. Time seemed to slow down for Dom as he watched fly onto the car and then roll across the back to be flung onto the pavement with a sickening crunch.

"LETTY!" Dom roared, and took off in a sprint. His worst fears sprung to life seemed to be confirmed as he grew closer; Letty remained unmoving. Dom slid to a stop against the pavement, feeling his jeans ripping but not really caring. "Letty.. Letty baby." He whispered, rolling her over to see her face. Suddenly he wished he hadn't. Blood was pouring from a gash somewhere in her hair, her face pale and expressionless. Letty's clothing was ripped and dirty, most of her skin was covered in a mixture of blood and dirt. "Shit. Oh Fuck." Dom muttered, trying to determine if he should pick her up or not. Her leg was bent at an impossible angle and she was littered in raw cuts and scrapes.

Jesse, Vince, and Leon suddenly appeared behind him, panting and lost for words.

"Leon, get on the phone. Call an ambulance. Get them here fast."

Nodding, Leon turned around to make the call.

Dom ripped off his shirt and held it to the gash in Letty's head, determined to stop the constant flow. At least if she was bleeding it meant she wasn't dead, yet. "Dammit Let, wake up. Come on.. look at me." Letty remained still, her eyes didn't flicker, and she was barely breathing. A bruise was forming along Letty's cheek, deep and purple. Somewhere behind him, Dom could here Vince getting into a scuffle with someone… but he blocked it out. All that mattered was Letty.

Dom could faintly hear a siren and the following squelch of tires as all the drivers tried to get away from the scene. In one desperate move, Dom tore his father's dog tags from his neck and fastened them around hers, almost frantic that he would lose her. Minutes seemed to drag into hours as Dom sat there waiting with one hand holding a sweaty shirt to Letty's head, the other caressing her face. Mumbling pretty incoherently, Dom couldn't tear his eyes away from Letty's mangled body. Doors banged and boots hit the ground as the EMTs joined him.

"What happened?"

"She got hit by a car. Flew up on to the hood, and then was flung onto the pavement. She hasn't moved yet, or shown any motion. I turned her over and tried to stop the blood from her head."

"We'll take it from here."

Jesse and Leon had to pull Dom away; he was still fighting to hold onto Letty. Off to one side, Vince had a vice grip on the driver of the car that was parked deathly close to Letty.

"Come on Dom, you can't leave your car here. We'll go see her at the hospital, later." Jesse stuttered, trying to hold onto the massive man in front of him. Lights flashed around them from the ambulance, but there was an odd buzzing in Dom's head. It was like this was a dream, a horrible nightmare that he couldn't awake from.

Dom nodded grimly, but said nothing as he turned on his heal and stalked off. Two steps away he remembered walked back and punched the driver with a stomach-turning crunch. "Vince… you know what to do." Dom growled in a low rumbled. Flexing his knuckles, he stalked back to his car parked a quarter mile away.


	6. Chapter 6

Dom walked out of the hospital side of Letty, who wouldn't stop pausing to bend her leg periodically. "If you do this all the way out to the car it may be midnight before we ever get home."

"It's been awhile since I've been able to do this, give me a break."

"Yeah, well you can bend your leg as you walk… all the way to the car. Let's go."

"Why the rush?"

"I'm not rushing."

"Got a hot date? Am I in the way? I'm sorry that my medical well being is getting in the way of your social schedule."

"Letty… it's not like that."

"Sure it's not."

"Let…" Dom stopped, Letty trailed a few paces behind him. "If you don't hurry your scrawny little ass up, we're going to be late."

"Late for what?" Letty smiled.

"It's a surprise."

Letty let loose a shrill scream and launched herself at Dom. Wrapping her legs around him, she continued to scream as he carried her the rest of the way to the car.

Dominic was all set to throw Letty the mother of all parties, and she didn't even know it. Mia had planned the food, and Mr. Toretto kept her away. He had her working at the store, while Dom put the finishing touches on her car. Dom had invited most of the school and even had a DJ coming. Letty didn't know shit. Strings of lights and balloons were everywhere, the entire fort was lit up. Since Letty was about to get her hardship, it was planned for Dom to take her to the hospital, for a final checkup and to have the cast taken off her leg. Then he would drive her to the garage where he had conveniently forgotten some things. There, it was planned for Mia, Mr Toretto, Leon and Jesse to meet her with a cake and the car and their various presents.

Leon, Jesse, and Mia would steal away to get the party started and have everyone surprise her when she got there. There would be barbecue, punch, a stream of food, and everything one could possibly imagine.

"Do you mind if we stop by the garage first? I need to pick up some shit before we head back to the fort. It'll only take a few minutes."

The garage was dark, so Letty didn't see her car as she walked into the office where everyone jumped out at her.

"Holy Mary, Mother of Jesus!" she shrieked as they all busted into laughter.

"Happy Birthday!" Dom grinned, wrapping his arms around her so she couldn't back out of the room.

"My birthday isn't for another week."

"We know, but we wouldn't be able to surprise you then." Mia asked, Handing her a party hat. Letty smiled and placed the hat on her head. She ended up with two, making her look like she had multicolored horns growing out of her head.

"We also wanted to celebrate you getting that smelly cast off." Vince grinned handing her a soda.

"Make a wish girl." Leon announced, bringing the cake out.

Letty closed her eyes at the sight of the candles and blew them out with one fell swoop. "This is great!" she smiled.

"we're hoping you won't be upset.. and will realize that it's the thought that counts… but we all chipped in and just got you one present this year." Mr. Toretto said handing her a box.

"What's…?" Confused, Letty removed the flame keychain from it's box.

"God Letty, for being a smart kid you're dense." Dom announced and promptly scooped her up and hauled her out into the garage. There parked in the middle of the garage, was a crimson Nissan 240SX.

Dom set her down. "Mine?" she asked in whispered shock.

"Yours." He whispered back in her ear.

She walked toward it in a slow revered awe, open the driver's side door and popped the hood.

Mr. Toretto laughed. "Girl knows where to look." The hood popped, and Letty freaked.

"Jesse designed it, Leon did the electronics, Mia did the paint job, Dom and I took the engine" Mr. Toretto explained, walking over to her. She shrieked again and launched herself onto Mr. Toretto.

The team finally headed back to the fort a few hours later. Already from a night of screaming, Letty screeched again. The entire block was lit up, with tables littered in food everywhere. Letty wanted nothing else than to be in the middle of the action, but first Mia dragged letty upstairs, claiming there was no way Letty was dancing at her own birthday party in a grungy hooded sweatshirt.

There was much bickering upstairs as Mia wanted to deck Letty out in girlish items, and all Letty wanted was a tank top and cargo pants. They finally reached middle ground over a pair of faded ripped to shreds low rise jeans, and a silky red spaghetti strap top.

"Hey Let, hold on I have something for you." Dom called before she could walk back downstairs.

Curious, Letty took the wrapped box and sat down on the top of the stairs.

"I know we all pitched in for the car, but I wanted you to have something else from me."

"Shit." Letty said, for not the first time that night.

"Do you like them?" Dom asked, uncertain.

"Like them? They're awesome!"

Peeling off her normal tennis shoes, Letty took the black boots out of their box and pulled them on. Grinning at the flames that etched the sides, she smiled at Dom.

"Thanks. This has been the best birthday….. I can't even describe it."

"We like to see you happy." He replied, kissing her forehead. "Come on, let's get you to that party. I'll even carry you."

"really!"

Dom nodded and she jumped on his back.

"MAKE WAY!" Dom bellowed through the crowd "BIRTHDAY GIRL COMING THROUGH!" Depositing her in the middle of the moving crowd, Dom started to move away. Letty grabbed his hand, and shook her head. Pulling him back to her, she started moving. The first dance had to be with Dom. Dom grinned and let her move against him. She was not uneducated by any means, and knew how to keep him moving. Somehow his hands found her hips, and he was regretting when the song ended. Vince came to claim her next. She just smiled and let V take her, while Dom walked away fuming. Dom watched her that night, nursing his Corona. After V, Leon took his turn, then she danced with them both at the same time. When they left trailing after some hoes from school, she and Mia twirled and danced by themselves, laughing without a care in the world. No other male from school dared dance with either of them. They were somehow marked by Dominic Toretto's intense reputation.

Letty made her way out of the group later, smiling something fierce. She was sweaty but she was happy. "Dom! Why aren't you dancing? This is a PARTY." She grinned and drank from his Corona.

"I guess as an extra birthday present I should stay away from all the whores I'm usually associated with."

"oh, so you admit you date skanks and whores?"

"Letty…" Dom cocked an eyebrow at her.

Turning serious, she cocked her head at him. "I've been meaning to ask you.. do you want your dog tags back? I don't even know how I got them.. and I know they're your dad's and they mean a lot to you." She trailed off.. not knowing where to end.

"No, you keep them. They look good on you."

"Thanks." She smiled. "Come dance with me. The night's not over."

"No.. You go. Have fun. Tonight's your night." Dom said quietly; then without thinking, he leaned in and kissed her.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N - If you read this chapter yesterday (11/23/05)… you might want to re-read. I changed a few things to make things a little more clear. Thanks for your patience.

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Today quite possibly had been the best day of Letty's entire life: her cast had been removed, the team gave her a sweet car and threw her an awesome party, and then Dominic Toretto kissed her. Letty would like nothing more than to convince herself that it was a fluke, nothing more than feeling something in an intense moment. This theory worked, until she broke them apart, only for him to pull her closer. One punch, and a swarm of Dom crazy girls later, she sat barricaded in the bathroom, pressed against the door while Dom pounded against the other side.

"Letty! You can't stay in there forever."

Letty didn't say anything, but got up to brush her teeth. What was going on? Dom was her older brother, why was he acting weird all of a sudden?

"Letty, please open the door."

Letty spat into the sink, then rinsed, not sure what else to do.

"Come on, Letty, please just talk to me."

Sitting on the edge of the tub, she silently wished the Toretto's had a window in the bathroom.

"Le-tty." He sang her name, drawing out every syllable. "Letty…please.. say something." He almost sounded desperate. "I don't think anyone has ever punched me after I kissed them before. I'm going to have a huge bruise, for weeks. I almost regret ever teaching you how to fight, but the thought of you punching every guy who kisses you keeps me sane." Pausing, he laughed. "Speaking of insane, you should have seen the looks of some of the girls from school after you ran off. That's why I didn't catch you right away, they rushed at me, if you had stayed maybe you could have decked a couple of them too."

Letty smiled and shifted.

He went silent for a minute, Letty almost thought he might have left, but she hadn't heard the heavy thunk of his boots.

"Let, please open the door. You're missing your party."

Letty stood, folded her arms and walked in a small circle.

"Letty, I promise I'll leave you alone, I just don't want you to have to spend the night in the bathroom."

Opening the door, she found him with his hands braced on either side of the door jam.

"Letty." He breathed.

"I figured sooner or later you might try to kick in the door."

"I thought about it."

"and yet you're still alive.."

"Cute Letty."

"Gotta fit the reputation."

"I don't think your reputation includes the word 'cute.'"

"No, it usually has a lot to do with Dominic Toretto."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

The floor suddenly seemed a lot more interesting that facing Dom. To Letty's relief, she didn't have to answer him.

"Dommie! I have been looking everywhere for you! I heard something about you and that grungy bitch and.. oh."

"I think you know Letty." Dom didn't turn to look or move from his position of staring at Letty.

"We've met. Dom I think we should go."

"You go, I'm not leaving."

"Fine, then I'll stay here with you. Let's go dance, I'm friends with the DJ, I can get a good song."

"No, I'm here for Letty."

"But Dom."

"Go."

With a huff, she stalked off.

"You could have gone with her. I don't care." Letty remarked quietly.

"I don't want to go with her, Letty. I want you."

Letty remained quiet, not sure what to say. "That's a pretty nasty bruise." She noticed, deep purple rings were forming around Dom's right eye.

"I'm a good teacher, what can I say."

"oh shit, and you have graduation coming up."

"I'll live, we just won't tell them that you punched me for kissing you. What I don't understand is why you ran… you don't run from anything."

Letty shifted uncomfortably, but didn't say anything.

"Have you really, never thought about it?"

"No Dom. Unlike the rest of the student body, I don't spend every waking moment fawning over you."

"Way to blow my ego, Letty."

She smiled, and shifted.

"So you've never thought about me, like that.. at all."

"Not really." She shifted, not liking where this was going. "You're my older brother."

"I'm more than your older brother. You should see that."

"You taught me how to fight, and how to drive. You watch over me at school, rescue me from poverty and destitution. You built me a car, good grief! Why on earth would I ever think you would teach me how to kiss, too? Mostly I thought that you and V classified me as a pest, the other little sister you never asked for."

"I don't think of you as my little sister."

"Obviously."

Dom grinned at her, she definitely wasn't scared of him.

"So what do you want me to do? Back off? Go back to being your older brother?"

"You'd do that?"

"I wouldn't be happy about it."

"I don't see how it's possible anyway."

"Do you maybe, want to try it out? See if it works?"

"You and me?"

"Yeah."

"Dating."

"That was the idea."

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"Have you seen Dom?"

"Nah man, don't worry about it V, he's probably off with some girl from school."

"It's Letty's party, why would he skip out like that?"

"I don't know. Pass me a beer, Jesse."

"I don't think he'd do that to Letty. He's been pretty close to her lately."

"That could be them outside."

"Where?"

"There.. they're dancing."

"Maybe she'll keep him from whoring around with every girl in school."

"At least we'll have a wider selection now."

"Yeah, but she leaves for Mexico soon."

Three teenage guys pressed against the living room window, suddenly turned to face Mia.

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't remember? She's going to Mexico to spend the summer with her parents, part of her fifteenth birthday thing. She leaves in two weeks."


End file.
